The Happytime Murders
2018 1h 31m movie Film China

The Happytime Murders

“No Sesame. All street.”

Synopsis

“No Sesame. All street.”

In a world where human beings and puppets live together, when the members of the cast of a children's television show aired during the 1990s begin to get murdered one by one, puppet Phil Philips, a former LAPD detective who fell in disgrace and turned into a private eye, takes on the case at the request of his old boss in order to assist detective Edwards, who was his partner in the past.

Audience Engagement

933
Reviews
94th
Review-volume percentile
78th
Popularity percentile

933 audience reviews — more than 94% of China films in our index.

Review volume (94th percentile) outruns trending popularity (78th) — a durable title with sustained audience attention.

Other Titles From STX Films

Action + Comedy in China

54 China titles in our catalog blend the Action and Comedy genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding The Happytime Murders itself).

The 2017–2019 China Window

In the crowded 2017-2019 China release window, The Happytime Murders sits at #218 of 248. The leaderboard below contextualises its neighbours.

  1. The Untamed: Special Edition
    #1

    The Untamed: Special Edition

    ★ 9.5 · 2019
  2. Ling Cage: Incarnation
    #2

    Ling Cage: Incarnation

    ★ 9.0 · 2019
  3. Once Upon a Bite
    #3

    Once Upon a Bite

    ★ 9.0 · 2018
  4. All Is Well
    #4

    All Is Well

    ★ 9.0 · 2019
  5. Fights Break Sphere
    #5

    Fights Break Sphere

    ★ 8.8 · 2017
  6. Burning Ice
    #6

    Burning Ice

    ★ 8.8 · 2017
  7. Blue Planet II
    #7

    Blue Planet II

    ★ 8.6 · 2017
  8. Day And Night
    #8

    Day And Night

    ★ 8.6 · 2017

The 2010s China Landscape

Catalog density by release year across the 2010s in China, 515 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Happytime Murders premiered alongside 76 others.

'1028'1140'1230'1326'1437'1544'1662'1785'1877'1986

Budget & Box Office Efficiency

$40.0M
Budget
$27.5M
Revenue
Net Profit
0.7×
Return Ratio

At a 1h 31m runtime, production spent $440K per minute on screen and earned $302K per minute back.

Position in Catalog

Released alongside 76 other China films in 2018.

The 613th China title from China we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1935).

Our China catalog contains 946 titles in total (747 films).

Thematic Fingerprint

Tags on The Happytime Murders, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.

Distinctive themes · rare across catalog
  • puppet · 5
  • spoof · 5
  • adult humor · 2
  • puppetry · 1
Recurring themes · common across catalog
  • fbi · 13
  • drug lord · 10
  • buddy cop · 8
Mainstream tags · widely used across catalog
  • prostitute · 39

Reception Benchmarks

5.7
TMDB Rating
933
Audience Reviews
Mixed
Critical Tier

Ranked #783 of 946 China films indexed here (17th percentile by TMDB audience score).

Rating is -1.0 points below the China average of 6.7/10.

Among China Action productions specifically: #248 of 319 (top 78%).

Production Details

Primary CountryChina
All Production CountriesChina, United States of America
Original LanguageEn
Production CompaniesSTX Films, Black Bear Pictures, Henson Alternative, Huayi Brothers Pictures, On the Day
Runtime1h 31m
Release DateAugust 22, 2018
IMDbtt1308728
Official Sitewww.thehappytimemurders.movie

External Catalogs